Double The Love (BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel) (15 page)

Liam couldn’t help but laugh.
“Jazz, come on, she’s not even a year old. Besides, I don’t think it would be
the worst thing in the world for her to see her parents exchanging a little
affection.”

“I know…I just…I don’t want us
to move too fast. There are things I have to do, Liam. I have to make something
out of myself in the way you have. One crappy album and a lackluster bar tour
don’t count. If you can give me room for that…I’m all yours.”

Liam was quiet as he
contemplated Jasmine’s words. It hurt like hell, but he cared about her too
much to say so. “So I’m guessing that means you still want to move out?” he
questioned.

Jasmine nodded.

“Well, if it’s what you think
is best, then I support you,” Liam said as he watched Maya attempt to fit a
puzzle together. “Just don't stay away finding yourself for too long alright?”
He met Jasmine’s gaze and smiled. “I might have a withdrawal.”

Jasmine grabbed his hand and
pressed a kiss against it. “I won’t,” she assured him.

Later, during Maya’s afternoon
nap, Jasmine dragged Liam back to bed to show him just how grateful she really
was for his support.

“Jesus,” Liam breathed. “You do
realize that we’ve done this more times today than we did when we were dating,
don’t you?”

“We never dated,” Jasmine was
quick to point out.

“I know, but it feels like we
did,” Liam said, raking his fingers through his hair. He was quiet for a few
seconds before speaking again. “What about now though?”

“Now?” Jasmine furrowed her
brows and propped herself up on her elbow to look at him.

“I mean…are we…like…”

“If we’re not, it sure feels
like we are,” Jasmine finished for him, quickly catching his drift.

“But you're still leaving,”
Liam clarified, hoping she might have had a sudden change of heart.

The hurt in his tone pained
Jasmine to her core, but she nodded all the same. This was something she had to
do for herself. If she didn’t, she knew she’d always regret it. “Liam, there’s
something here with us, and I don’t want you to think I’m not committed,” she
spoke up, grazing her fingertips across the tight columns of his abs. “I just…I
need to find myself or I won’t be any good to you or Maya. If we can make it
through that, we’ll come out stronger on the other end. I promise.”

“So you won't marry me?” Liam
questioned. He figured that if he phrased it lightheartedly and got shot down,
it might not sting as much as the first time had.

“Don't ask me just yet,”
Jasmine insisted.

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn’t
a no either. “So long as you promise we can keep doing this in the interim,”
Liam teased, pressing an escalating kiss against her neck.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, but
the grin that surfaced on her face gave way to how she really felt. “The logic
portion of your brain appears to be hard-wired to your dick,” she remarked,
patting his girth over the blanket.

Liam smirked and pulled her
into a kiss. Oddly enough, he was happy, which was the very last thing he
expected to be after all his expectations had been slashed. Regardless, he
couldn’t act like he didn’t understand why Jasmine wanted this so badly.
Getting pregnant this young was never part of her life plan, and he definitely
wasn’t going to play a hand in screwing things up any further for her. Maya was
blessing, there wasn’t any denying that, but Jasmine still had things she
needed to accomplish. Things Liam knew she
would
accomplish if he backed up and gave her
the space she needed to do it.

Chapter twenty-six

Jasmine’s career was finally
starting to take off. Her and Andrea’s album had debuted to rave reviews, and
her record label was hosting an upscale launch ceremony at one of the city’s
top nightclubs to commemorate the success before they were to be whisked off on
a three month promotional tour.

It went without saying that
Jasmine was elated, but she was too distracted by the sudden changes to her
system to focus on it. The first clue she got that something wasn’t right came
on an otherwise normal Monday morning. She’d awoken with the urge to vomit and
was completely turned off by the idea of foods she usually loved, two symptoms
that brought her right back to being pregnant with Maya.

Liam was in the kitchen
preparing breakfast when Jasmine stormed in and slammed a dirty glass down onto
the counter, causing it to shatter in every direction. “Shit!” she exclaimed,
covering her mouth when she realized she’d sworn in front of her daughter. The
intuitive one year old had just found her voice, and she was parroting
everything her parents said. The last thing they needed was her cursing.

“What's up?” Liam questioned,
calmly scooping the shards of broken glass into the trash. He’d noticed what a
foul mood Jasmine had been in lately, but he chopped it up to PMS and he didn’t
dare comment on it.

Jasmine sighed and steadied
herself against the sink. “Nothing,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “I just
woke up on the wrong side of the bed, that’s all.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing
you need to tell me?” Liam questioned, studying her face as he cut up a couple
pancakes and set them on Maya’s highchair.

“No,” Jasmine lied, biting down
on her bottom lip and turning away from him to watch Maya eat. She wasn’t
pregnant because she
couldn’t
be pregnant. Not now. There was too much at stake.

Liam still seemed skeptical,
but there was a knock on the front door and he dropped the subject to go answer
it. “Be careful,” he said as he let Andrea in, keeping his voice low and
nodding at Jasmine in the kitchen. “She's a little on edge today.”

“Liam, this is Jazz we're
talking about,” Andrea said, rolling her eyes. “When is she ever not?”

Liam grinned and followed her
into the kitchen, wiping Maya’s face and lifting her out of her highchair to
give the two women time alone together.

“Why so glum chum?” Andrea
questioned.

Jasmine shrugged and took a
seat at the table. “Nothing, I’m just a little under the weather. I think Maya
might have brought a flu home from preschool.”

“Are you sure that’s all?”
Andrea questioned. She could tell by the expression on Jasmine’s face that
there was something she wasn’t saying.

Jasmine sighed and met eyes
with her friend. “No,” she admitted, speaking in a hushed tone. “I’m pregnant.”

“I knew it!” Andrea exclaimed,
slapping the table. Her giddy expression dissipated, however, when she saw the
annoyed look Jasmine was giving her.

“I still can’t believe it,”
Jasmine managed, rubbing her forehead. “It couldn’t have happened at a worse
time.”

“Does Liam know?”

“No, and I intend on keeping it
that way,” Jasmine said, giving her friend a stern look. “At least until the
tour is over. Neither one of us need the added stress right now.”

“Yeah, but you can’t exactly
help it,” Andrea rationalized. “I mean…you’re pregnant. It’s not a
‘lets pause and
come back to this later’
kind of issue. All you’re going to get is more
pregnant, and we both know how Liam’s going to react when he finds out that you
waited so long to tell him…”

Jasmine sighed. She couldn’t
decide if she loved or hated the role Andrea played in her life as her voice of
reason. “I know,” she admitted. “I just don’t want him to start pushing the
marriage issue again.”

“Jazz, Liam’s a great guy,”
Andrea reminded her for what felt like the hundredth time. “There are worst
things a girl can do than marry the father of her child. Sorry,
children
.”

“I told you. I don’t want that
to be the only reason he wants to marry me. I don’t want to be just another
obligation to him. I won’t be.”

“Oh please.” Andrea sucked her
teeth and rolled her eyes. Jasmine was really starting to sound like a broken
record. “That’s an excuse and you know it. It’s obvious that Liam loves you,
Jazz, and not just because he got you pregnant. You’re just scared, and that’s
okay, but don’t lie to yourself.”

“That's easy for you to say.
It's not your decision.”

“No, it isn’t, but when Martin
proposed I—”

“Wait…
what?
” Jasmine interrupted, grabbing
hold of Andrea’s hand and glancing down at it. Sure enough, a sparkling
six-carat stared back at her. How had it taken her so long to notice it? The
thing was huge!

Andrea nodded, unable to
contain her excitement any longer. “It was amazing!” she gushed. “I told him
the good news about the tour, and he took me out to his parents beach house in Malibu
to celebrate. We were taking a walk out by the water when he got down on one
knee.” She sighed and smiled in reflection. “It was so beautiful, Jazz. I
couldn’t have dreamt up a better proposal.”

Jasmine squealed and pulled her
into a hug.

“You sure you don’t want to
make it a double wedding?” Liam questioned a few days later. They were lying
naked in bed, and Jasmine had just filled him in on Andrea asking her to be her
maid-of-honor.

“Nice try,” Jasmine mumbled,
rolling onto her side to look at him. It was the third time he’d brought up the
marriage thing this week alone. She was seriously starting to wonder if he’d
discovered her little secret.

Liam ran his hands down the
sides of Jasmine’s body and
slid a palm over her stomach, tracing his fingertips over the
faint scar that signified how his daughter had been brought into the world.
“What am I
going to do while you’re off conquering world?” he questioned, changing the
subject.

Jasmine smiled and leaned in to
whisper in his ear. “You’ll survive,” she told him. “But if it gets too
tough…there’s always phone sex.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Liam pulled at his tie and
slowly scanned the party unfolding around him. There was an excess of
high-priced alcohol and hors d'oeuvres, but what he really wanted was a slice
of pizza and a beer. It went without saying that this wasn’t his scene, but the
way Jasmine looked tonight made it all worth it. The tight red dress she was
wearing perfectly clung to her curves, and he had trouble keeping himself from
gawking every time she sauntered by.

 
“Knock it off,” Jasmine hissed when he proposed they sneak
off somewhere more private for a quickie. “This is my launch party. It would
look kinda bad if I wasn’t here for it, don’t you think?”

Liam sighed in defeat, but he
couldn’t act like she didn’t have a point. Fortunately for him, he knew where
she lived, and he was fairly certain he could persuade her to indulge once they
got home.

“And I'll get you something
real to eat just as soon as the ceremony is over,” Jasmine added.

 
“Since when do you know how to read minds?” Liam questioned.

“I don’t, but I
do know how
to read you.”

“Apparently so,” Liam teased,
pulling her in close and resting his palm against her backside.

Jasmine smirked and shook her
head. “Oh, crap,” she mumbled, straightening up and pulling a tight smile when
she noticed her attorney lumbering towards them. “Alfonso’s coming over.”

“Jazz,” Alfonso spoke up in his
deep baritone of a voice, nodding at her and lifting his glass of champagne in
a mock salute.